"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
We drove through the rain
Past the evergreen trees
And we rolled just like the water
Along the veins of its leaves
And we traced our memories
Into the shape of a map
Inside the palms of our hands
Bearing the secrets unkept
and I don't think I could ever feel this way again
You should be an actress because your so good at lying
You bring my to my feet and then you leave me here crying
If the feelings are gone, then what am I left with
its true that we're young
But love is said to be ageless
The same is said of pain and desire and depression
Would it make it easier if I made you hate me
I only wanna see you happy
I only wanna see you smile
ill take these pills and shove em down my throat to keep the words "I love you" from escaping my lips
To keep me sleeping and keep me quiet, still
"I love you" is the only thing I know for sure
If its time you need my love, ill give it to you
ill give you my love if you say that its time
Ill tear down the walls you've built up in our lives
As the barrier breaks between your heart and mine
You would die to forget, but I will live to remind you
Past the evergreen trees
And we rolled just like the water
Along the veins of its leaves
And we traced our memories
Into the shape of a map
Inside the palms of our hands
Bearing the secrets unkept
and I don't think I could ever feel this way again
You should be an actress because your so good at lying
You bring my to my feet and then you leave me here crying
If the feelings are gone, then what am I left with
its true that we're young
But love is said to be ageless
The same is said of pain and desire and depression
Would it make it easier if I made you hate me
I only wanna see you happy
I only wanna see you smile
ill take these pills and shove em down my throat to keep the words "I love you" from escaping my lips
To keep me sleeping and keep me quiet, still
"I love you" is the only thing I know for sure
If its time you need my love, ill give it to you
ill give you my love if you say that its time
Ill tear down the walls you've built up in our lives
As the barrier breaks between your heart and mine
You would die to forget, but I will live to remind you
Lyrics submitted by 12345678910
The Roads You Can Take Lyrics as written by Caleb D Pepp Allan Scott Goffinski
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
this song is so beautiful...like all the other 1997 songs.
i think this one is pretty self explanitory... the singer loves someone that doesn't love him back and he'll do what it takes to make that person happy...whether that's making them hate him [would it make it easier if i made you hate me] or just waiting for them to come back [if its time you need my love, ill give it to you].